C. Adolph Moores writes about motion pictures and Hollywood history and is based far from Hollywood in Alabama.
As a film historian and critic I have often longed for a temporary bout of cinematic amnesia, a brief reprieve from the sense that I have seen every possible movie of every possible nature that has been produced at anytime, ever. My unhealthy love for the medium has brought me to film festivals, midnight freak shows, interminable marathons, foreign retrospectives, art houses, porno booths, mom and pop video stores, museums, cinema clubs and basements of experimental theaters alike. All that remains for me to explore is some international snuff circuit of whose existence I am skeptical.
This convenient amnesia would clean my slate, give me a fresh perspective, and allow my jaded cinematic worldview a well-needed rest. Imagine the enjoyment of being able to watch the films that molded and shaped you all over again, as if for the first time. Sitting wide eyed in the dark while images from The Godfather, Chinatown, Touch of Evil or Treasure of the Sierra Madre wash over you anew, jab at your psyche and fill you with the same awe that led to that knowing grin on your face. Realizing what you were watching was, indeed, something truly special and life altering.
It is an impossible wish (unless dangerous surgical brain-wipes are your thing) and one that is best left alone. In its stead however, I offer another solution.
Amidst these web pages you will find another sort of cinematic joy. Thanks to the work of film preservationists, archivists and the ever-improving technologies in film restoration, there is now a foundation of re-issued classics from the 20th Century Fox vaults waiting to be rediscovered or enjoyed for the first time. These timeless gems give everyone, from the most ardent film enthusiast to the casual appreciator, a new opportunity to relish the beauty of America’s preeminent art form.
So, why classic films now, with so many varied entertainments battling for our attention and time? Choice can become a bit oppressive when it is not tempered with taste and foresight. Anyone who has been to a googolplex in the past twenty years can agree that the overall quality of film has depreciated significantly. The theater experience itself, inundated with ads, teens, exorbitant prices and cell phones, leaves you with little more than an uneasy feeling of regret and shame.
Delving into the classics can provide a remedy for those blues.
Think of the suicidal Mickey Sachs, Woody Allen’s character, in Hannah and Her Sisters. He hates his job, survives a brain tumor scare, and goes through the gauntlet of organized religion seeking solutions to life’s unanswerable questions. He finally finds solace and enlightenment while watching Duck Soup. He reasons that if there are things like Marx Brothers’ films in the world, life can’t all be a drag. Now that is true salvation.
While classic cinema may not provide everyone with such life affirming insights, it nonetheless can offer a balm to the film weary. Recapturing the magic of Old Hollywood and its larger than life stars offers a nostalgic appreciation of more innocent times, both culturally and historic.
Equally energizing is the notion that we are already aware of the bygone stars’ foibles and transgressions. All of that baggage is fun trivia now. Bogey and Huston were raging drunkards; Joan Crawford’s peculiar parenting skills have been reduced to campy catchphrases; Flynn, Chaplin and Polanski preferred jailbait; Frances Farmer and Gene Tierney went madder than a shithouse rat; Rock Hudson was batting for the away team, and Bob Mitchum loved the weed.
Nowadays, you become a fan of a celebrity and must continually teeter on the brink of reevaluation as rumors, scandal, depravity, poor drinking and driving skills or simple idiocy come pouring in from the news outlets. That is too much pressure for a connoisseur to bear.
Always side with the devil you know over the angel you do not.
There is no better place for this recrudescent approach toward your cinematic rebirth than the pristinely restored catalog at Fox Classics. From the early reign of Darryl F. Zanuck through the death of the studio system in the ‘60s, 20th Century Fox has been at the forefront of the industry in artistic and technological innovation. Whether your tastes lean toward science fiction, romance, musicals, film noir, westerns, war, comedy, drama, historical epics, thrillers or literary adaptations, there is something here to rejuvenate your interests.
It is a wonderful indulgence and a great privilege to revisit these films from the old Hollywood studio system. As Ruth Gordon’s character says in Harold and Maude, “I don’t regret the kingdoms… I miss the kings.”
Film is the art form that defines our nation. So enjoy these journeys into another person’s dream. Dim the lights, sit back and recapture that magical feeling where you are alone in the dark and it seems like the picture has been made just for you.
